Week 7:
Shadowing, Shadowing and More Shadowing

July 31, 2017

I was finally able to shadow Dr. St. Louis in his sleep medicine clinic. I was able to see two narcolepsy patients and a patient with probable restless leg syndrome (RLS) and obstructive sleep apnea. During this time, I observed that Neurology and Sleep Medicine is very conversation based when interviewing the patient, and involves digging for the information you are looking for. Dr. St. Louis was very educational, and even when seeing patients he made sure I was following along and picking up on the important information. I am very proud of myself because before Dr. St. Louis introduced RLS to the patient, I was thinking this was a probable cause of the symptoms they were experiencing. This really showed me how much I have learned about sleep, and sleep disorders during my time here.

This week we also went to another lecture for summer students on virology. Virology is a topic that I am not very familiar with, and therefore had a lot to learn. The lecturer was speaking on his lab’s work, aiming to use viruses for treating illnesses and cancer, and bioengineering viruses to replace mutated DNA. One of the most interesting parts of the lecture was about the use of adenoviruses, such as the common cold, to treat cancerous tumors. These viruses enter the cancerous cell, replicate their DNA using the cell’s machinery, and then cause the cell to go into apoptosis, or cell death. This method has been successful on a mouse model, so there is much hope for the future as this may work with humans too.

I spent the end of my week shadowing in thoracic surgery. I was able to watch two lobectomies (one upper right and one lower left). This time in the OR was much more educational because I felt more comfortable and able to focus on the surgery and figuring out what was going on. During my time in the OR, I found myself actually considering being a surgeon as a possible profession. Previous to this, I had always brushed it off and claimed it wasn’t for me. I now can see the draw of surgery. When the procedure is underway, everything and everyone is moving very quickly and you have to be on your toes. Being a surgeon would be a very fast paced lifestyle.

The best part of the day was that all the resected lymph nodes and bronchi were negative for tumor, meaning that the cancer had not yet spread far past the lungs. This is good news for the patient and their family. I was once again able to hold the resected lungs. The upper right lobe that was resected had a baseball sized tumor, taking up about 3/4 of the upper right lobe.

Although I am still absolutely in love with psychiatry and neurology, I am starting to see the draw of other specialties. This journey has been very enlightening and I can’t wait to see what the next two weeks (and last two weeks) bring.